The Key of Mirinoi
by yellowgalaxygirl
Summary: Will the rangers be able to find the key of Mirinoi before Trakeena? If they don't, evil will be more powerful than they could imagine, and Mirinoi will be destroyed.


The Key of Mirinoi  
  
Chapter 1: Sudden turn of events  
  
"There must be some way to defeat the power rangers!" Trakeena fumed as she paced furiously back and forth, wracking her brain for another plan. Her last monster had joined the growing list of failures.  
  
Her sidekick coughed to get her attention. "Legend has it that on the planet Mirinoi there is a regenerator. It has the power to make you stronger, almost invincible."  
  
"Yes." Trakeena cried out excitedly. "With the planet frozen in stone, it shouldn't be a problem getting a hold of it. And once we do, we'll stop those rangers once and for all!"  
  
Maya moaned in her sleep as images of Jera kept flooding her unconsciousness. She was struggling to hear him, to understand the message he was trying to send her. On Mirinoi, dreams were an important ritual. It was a way to send information or warnings to others; it was used primarily as a defensive posture, to maintain self-preservation of the planet.  
  
"Maya," her grandfather called to her. "Trakeena is on Mirinoi. You must stop her; she is trying to steal the regenerator. If it falls into the wrong hands, evil will be more powerful than ever, and harder, if not impossible to contain. You must make certain that doesn't happen." The old man pleaded with the girl as he reached to her through her dreams.  
  
Kendrix tried to drown out the noises that kept interrupting her desperately needed sleep. Reluctantly she opened an eye to see if she were imagining things when she noticed her roommate Maya crying out in her sleep. Alarmed she woke the rest of the way up and jumped down from her bunk to comfort her distraught friend.  
  
Visions of her planet and the destruction of her people played in her dreams, causing her to scream aloud much to Kendrix's dismay. As the yellow ranger continued to thrash about, Kendrix was relieved when the boys ran into the room.  
  
"What's going on?" Leo demanded as he wiped sleep from his eyes. The other male rangers looked a little perturbed after having their sleep disturbed.  
  
"I think she's having a nightmare. I can't get her to wake up." She replied a little panicked. The boys then noticed the yellow ranger moaning from her place in her hammock. Their anger was replaced by concern when as if on cue, Maya jolted awake. She threw her arms over her face as if she were hiding from something.  
  
Before they could take a step closer, she screamed "No!" and pulled her body into a ball. The sudden movement caused her to roll off the hammock, and unto Mike who was the closest to her and he caught her before she could fall to the floor. The falling, however, woke up the yellow ranger. She opened her eyes to see her teammates looking at her concern.  
  
Mike was startled to see tears in Maya's eyes. For such a cheerful, confident, strong woman she looked surprisingly fragile. He was shocked at where his thoughts were going as his arms tightened instinctively around her protectively. He desperately wanted to know what could have frightened her so much.  
  
"What happened?" Kai asked calmly, trying to figure out the problem. The rest of the team were a bit disconcerted at the appearance of the mironian woman who seemed so distraught and upset. They waited patiently for a few minutes, allowing themselves to wake up enough to process the information, and for Maya to calm down.  
  
Maya had calmed down enough to explain and almost looked like her normal self, except for the haunted look in her eyes and her paled face. She pulled away from Mike to face the rest of her teammates. "I had a dream, Jera told me that Trakeena was on Mirinoi." She whispered.  
  
"No wonder why she's been so quiet lately." Leo mused as he focused in on hearing her reply.  
  
"Why would she go to Mirinoi?" Damon inquired curiously and confused. No one else could answer that question either so they waited for Maya.  
  
"There's a regenerator that is used for healing. It's supposed to be only for the sick or injured, but if it fell into the wrong hands, it can make you stronger." She declared fearfully.  
  
"How much stronger?" Damon questioned worried. 'There must be something she's not telling us.' He thought to himself even as he looked at the faces of his teammates and knew they were thinking the same fearful thoughts.  
  
"Evil will be more powerful than ever, and harder, if not impossible to contain." Maya replied softly. Everyone's eyes opened wider at her statement.  
  
"Well we can't let that happen!" Mike decided firmly. "We must find out what Trakeena is up to."  
  
"How about Mike and I will go to the bridge with Maya to check it out. You guys go back to your quarters, we'll let you know if anything is up." Leo announced.  
  
Maya was quiet as she followed the two brothers to the bridge. She hoped fervently she was wrong, but the churning in the pit of her stomach could not be denied.  
  
Deca quickly scanned the planet of Mirinoi and they spotted Trakeena scouring the planet looking for the regenerator. The three decided to keep a closer eye on the villianness and teleported to Mirinoi.  
  
The three rangers quietly snuck up to the edge of the canyon where Trakeena and her villains were gathered. They lay down on the ground and crawled close to the edge to hear what she was saying without being seen. Maya wasn't sure if she wanted to know, but the fate of her planet depended on their being able to stop Trakeena.  
  
"Where could this regenerator be?" Trakeena complained. "How are we going to find it?" She yelled as she ordered her subordinates to keep looking.  
  
"I know!" She declared suddenly, stopping in her tracks. "That pesky yellow ranger is from Mirinoi. I bet she knows where it is." Hope crossed over her face for the first time since hearing about this regenerator.  
  
"Like she's going to tell you Trakeena." Her sidekick said skeptically. Trakeena's eyes flashed with hatred.  
  
"That's why we're going to capture her and torture her, and force her to give us the information, you idiot!" She rolled her eyes at their incompetence and gave up reasoning with the morons. If she was going to pull this off, it was quite evident she would need a new monster as well.  
  
Maya's eyes opened wide as she let out a quiet gasp. Mike clamped a hand over her mouth as not to give them away. Frustrated Trakeena finally left, leaving only the rangers behind.  
  
Leo got up first, checking to make sure the coast was clear. He wasn't taking any chances that Trakeena had discovered them and was waiting to ambush them. At Leo's command, Mike got up and half carried/half dragged Maya away from the edge. The three teleported back to the mega ship. Mike didn't release her until they were back on the bridge, even holding unto her a few moments longer than necessary. He immediately directed her to a chair and forced her to sit.  
  
"Don't worry Maya, we won't let anything happen to you." Leo tried to reassure her, but the yellow ranger was lost in her own thoughts. She didn't even see the worried glances the brothers exchanged. Maya was in fact more worried about Mirinoi but was too stunned to even argue with them.  
  
"Do you know where the regenerator is?" Mike asked his friend, leaning over her. Maya nodded silently, his closeness was a bit disconcerting. Not bad, just different. She hadn't realized how brown his eyes were as she gazed back at him. Shaking off her thoughts, she tore her gaze away and returned to the question at hand. "Yes but only the key of Mirinoi can open it." She added.  
  
Kendrix, Kai, and Damon entered the room at that moment, Kendrix carrying an ancient historical text. "It says here that the key of Mirinoi is not a thing, but a person. According to legend, the oldest daughter of the last Sun prince possesses the power of the planet. Only the key can unlock the healing powers of Mirinoi."  
  
"What are you guys doing up?" Leo demanded of his teammates, as the clock read 3 am.  
  
"Like we could sleep while you guys were out there." Damon answered the team leader as he joined the group and sat down.  
  
"Besides I was already awake and decided to look up any useful information." Kendrix said, getting a grateful look from Maya. Kendrix offered her a small smile of reassurance.  
  
"I have one question though Maya, why is there so little information on Mirinoi?" The pink ranger asked curiously as they all turned to look at her.  
  
"Well, all our traditions and history are passed down orally from generation to generation. The elders don't want the rest of the galaxy to learn about Mirinoi. There's too much risk involved. Besides we were almost destroyed once before, and that's not going to happen again." She said determinedly, almost harshly.  
  
"I guess that explains why I never heard of Mirinoi until I met you." Kendrix surmised, jumping in to take the heat off of Maya, who was obviously very troubled with the sudden turn of events. "So there's no writings at all?" She repeated.  
  
"Only the ancient prophecies, but they're written on the walls of the temple on Mirinoi." Maya replied.  
  
"But what if the key is frozen in stone?" Kai said. Mike shot him as hard a glare as he could muster up. But Maya didn't seem to notice the conversation going around her. He was concerned what this would do to her; he couldn't imagine what he would be like in her position.  
  
"We must find out who the key is!" Leo exclaimed urgently. The others nodded numbly in silent agreement.  
  
Kendrix watched Maya to see her reaction. The girl looked numb and dazed, as if she didn't know what had hit her. She was bent over with her elbows on her knees, hiding in her long brown hair as if in deep contemplation. Kendrix wished there was some way to console her friend but could think of no words that would soothe her. Instead, she went to her side and pulled her away and ushered her to their quarters. To her surprise, Maya didn't resist and the two were gone.  
  
The two Corbetts refused to look at their teammates, knowing the questions they would have to face. Mike and Leo's silence alerted Damon and Kai that something was amiss.  
  
"Alright, what happened out there?" Kai demanded in a no-nonsense tone of voice.  
  
Leo was reluctant to share but knew he must for the sake of Mirinoi, and for Maya's safety. "Trakeena will do anything to get her hands on that regenerator. She plans on going after Maya to get information."  
  
"Well we won't let her." Damon insisted, crossing his arms as if that ended the discussion.  
  
Kendrix helped her friend into her hammock and watched her until she fell asleep. Satisfied that she was resting, she herself crawled up to her bunk and fell asleep as well. The boys went to sleep not too long after, knowing they had a long day ahead of them and hoping they could find a way to stop Trakeena.  
  
Stopping Trakeena was the foremost thing on Kai, Leo, and Damon's mind, but sparing Maya the pain of having her planet destroyed again was what filled Mike's mind as he dozed off into a light sleep. 


End file.
